A Big Finish

I finally finished my 100 blocks 100 days 2018 quilt. Bound, washed and dried, and photographed. This is such a big sense of accomplishment for me you guys. I bought Tula Pink's book  about 6 months after it came out because I saw it everywhere on the internet. And then, it sat on my shelf. I was completely overwhelmed with all the blocks in this book.

I mean, think of it. It's 100 different blocks. Each cut out separately. No fast rotary cutting multiples here. And I know that there have been other 100 blocks sew alongs, but finally, last year I was struck with a great desire to do this. I saw lots of great inspiration on Instagram. And I figured out a way to make this a bit less overwhelming. Every 10 blocks I made in a particular featured color. So much easier for me to decide on fabrics.

 I took the blocks with me to North Carolina last spring, and my daughter helped me to figure out a nice arrangement for them. That was another sticking point for me.

      And I loved what she came up with.

 I took a couple of pictures outside, but it was way too sunny for great colors.

 With all the color on the top, I decided to put on a border of grey to frame it. I quilted the quilt in off white thread, but did the borders in red thread, just for fun.

 And I had two long-ish pieces of leftover binding in my stash, so I put them together to bind this quilt.

And for the back, I used some Bonnie and Camille fabrics that I love, but had been in my stash for a number of years, along with a couple other fabrics to make it large enough.

And there you have it. My big finish. Have a great rest of your weekend friends.

And Meanwhile, InOther News...

So I thought I should maybe show you some of the other stuff I have been making lately. I sew almost every single day.

 I am crocheting the Woodland blanket from Attic 24 for my middle daughter. This is usually my evening hand work project.

 I have pin basted the cows and pigs quilt for a sweet little boy I know. These were left from the fabric panel from Farm Fresh. I used the chickens and roosters elsewhere.

 And a nice bright rainbow on the back, using up these fabrics I have had forever.

 The first of my Hands 2 Help quilts. I have enough of these 16 patch blocks to make two baby quilts for Jack's Basket. That is the charity I have chosen. So happy to find a good use for these blocks.

 Still working on the 100 Blocks 100 Days quilting. I had started it two weeks ago, but had to put it aside to finish Light in the Window.

And here are some pin cushions for my craft fair. I have a bunch of other items as well. Several types of zip pouches and such. That is coming up in early May.
Hope you have a lovely day.

Here I Am!!

Man, I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but almost a month? The time is just flying by for me here. Usually it's just because I am so busy sewing, I fail to stop and take pictures. This time it's because I have spent the last two weeks on jury duty, so my weekends have been for catching up on the rest of my life. And I still have, what I hope will be only one more day of jury duty this week.

Part of what has been occupying me this month of February is crochet. I found Lucy, at Attic 24 a number of years ago and love to read her lovely blog. I finally dove in and have been working on her latest Crochet Along, or CAL as we call it.

I am still sewing. I am signed up for a craft fair in May, and I have been working on making my inventory for that. I am sorry I have not taken any pictures of what I am doing. In addition to that I have  a quilt in progress, that I can't share just yet, a table runner in progress that I haven't photographed yet and I did get my  100 days 100 blocks quilt border on and got it pin basted about 3 weeks ago, but haven't started quilting it yet.

Here is a picture of that beautiful quilt top. I have a quilting plan for it, I just need to make room in the queue for it. I know that more forward progress will be made once I am here every week day to work on it.

I hope your February was good and I hope to see you back here real soon.

What's Up?

I have almost sat down to write a post here several times in the last week or two. I am finding it hard to stay motivated in that vein. I either don't have the photos I need and don't feel like taking them or would rather do other things. I need to get organized here people. I really do want to blog. So, what am I up to?

 Well, I finished crocheting this lovely blanket. This is the Summer Ripple blanket from Lucy at Attic 24. I chose to use the cotton yarn instead of the acrylic and I love the weight of it. It is wonderful on chilly nights and the colors really make my heart sing.

 This is my 100 Days 100 Blocks quilt, all sewn together. I finally cut a border and have it ready to attach so I can get it ready to quilt. My oldest daughter helped me to figure out this arrangement and I am loving it so much.

This is the beginning of the Bonnie Hunter Good Fortune mystery quilt. I made I think the first four weeks and then had to travel for the holidays and got behind. The last couple of blocks haven't gotten made yet. I became very frustrated with this project and decided to just forget it. But then I saw the final product on her blog and I love it. So, I downloaded all the rest of the steps and I will finish it after all...in my own sweet time. Getting rid of deadlines on this has helped me with my desire to finish it.

I am currently working with this lovely yarn to make the Sweet Pea blanket with the Attic 24 CAL group and loving the beauty of this. Crochet has become my evening go to project. And sometimes my during the day project while watching football on the weekends.

I have a list of projects for the coming year, and I am starting to make them happen. I will, hopefully be back very soon with some more shares of my work.

Have a lovely week.

Have You Missed Me?

I have had so many guests here and there was only a little sewing going on. I have been thinking of what to post about for almost a week now. I couldn't quite make myself sit down and do it. I think what makes it hard for me is I need pictures downloaded and edited and then sometimes my computer doesn't cooperate. Anyway, here I am.

So here is the first block of my Firefly quilt. It's the first quilt I have ever made with only solids. I am using Kona cotton for the top. I pulled my color card out and tried to pick colors that were similar to the ones used for the original pattern. I am pretty happy with my choices. Just 15 more blocks to finish. Each block is finished at 17 1/2 inches.

These are some more of my 100 Blocks 100 Days doing the Tula Pink City Sampler on Instagram.

These two are a couple of my most favorite blocks. I am learning how to successfully fussy cut.

And these are the first 3 out of 9 blocks I am making for a special wall hanging quilt. The pattern is from Rachel at Stitched In Color and her Penny Sampler Quilt class that I took last year. I still am not a big fan of paper piecing, but at least I know how to do it and it does come in handy.

So, that's what's been happening around here. I also started another new crochet project, which I will show you next time. Have a great week, and I will talk to you soon.

Busy As A Bee

It's hot. And no A/C, just fans. But most days I still feel compelled to sew for at least some of the day. I have many projects in the works.

 First up is the #100days100blocks2018 challenge on Instagram. I bought the book the year it came out but I never could make myself dive into it. This challenge, and several successful sew alongs behind me, spurred me on. I find that I am enjoying it and to make it doable for myself, each group of 10 blocks has a specific color theme. This makes choosing fabrics less overwhelming.

This is one of the block diagrams to show how to assemble. None of the blocks are difficult, but at least one has 30 pieces and these blocks finish at 6 1/2 inches, so, small pieces.

And an upside is that I am using some of my stash for this. Look at the year on this piece. I have used some in various projects over the years. Man...and I don't think it is the oldest piece I have either.

At a request from my oldest, the children need an overnight bag. So I found this free pattern and I have to say I do like it. The comments on the site are not very kind for the most part. It is not the best written pattern I have ever used, but it is 5 years old and I like to think the designer has improved her skills. If you are an accomplished sewist, you can do this. It requires a bit more thought than just following the directions.

This one was the first I made, for my daughter to test the bag out. I have made a few adjustments to the sewing of the pattern that I will use for the others. Bottom line, it is a nice duffel bag. I chose to add batting to the sides and bottom instead of just an iron on interfacing. The interior of the bag is the fabric with the months on it, so I chose to put the month of her birthday on the outside as well.

These are the end pieces for the bags for the three children. Instead of doing the cording along the top of the pockets, I chose to fold a bit down and stitch it into place. I did the cording on my daughter's and while it is a nice touch, I think it's not necessary here.

 The next project I have, waiting in the wings (ha!) is this Firefly quilt. I don't usually fall for these, but for some reason this one really spoke to me. I didn't want to join the sew along, but they offered just the pattern, so I bought that. I have never made a totally solids quilt, so another first for me.

And here is the fabric, just waiting patiently to be pressed and cut for this little lovely. It's been nice to have a bunch of different things to work on this summer.

I still have 3 triangles to applique on my Kingfisher quilt and then it is done and ready for quilting. And I am still sewing hexies for a future project that I haven't fully thought out yet. I just enjoy having hand work to do,
I hope you are staying cool. Talk to you soon.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Stash???

I have been working on a project for the last couple of weeks. It is the 100 Blocks 100 Days challenge using Tula Pink's City Sample book. It is being held on Instgram if you want to check it out. I have decided to use only my stash for this challenge and so far, so good. But, it has led to a lot of thinking while I am pulling fabrics and scraps from my stash and pressing them to be able to cut them.

Do you do that too? Let your mind wander while you cut and sew? I do much of my best thinking and soul searching at my machine or at my ironing board. Anyway, back to my question about too much stash.

 When I first started making quilts, around 1990, I would figure out a quilt to make, try to figure out how much fabric I needed and buy just that. I over estimated sometimes, and my stash was started, because I save everything. I kept all my scraps,no matter the size, in an old chest of drawers that traveled with me from house to house, state to state while my children were growing up.  They were all thrown in ther, jumbled together.

 Once we settled in North Carolina, I became more serious about quilting. I still mostly shopped for fabrics for specific projects, but for the first time, I lived near a local quilt shop. The proprietor would hold an anniversary sale every year, 35% off all cuts of 1/2 yard or more. That was when I really began buying fabrics I really liked just because. The second or third year of this sale, I remember a woman came into the shop while I was waiting to get my fabric cut, and left her credit card with the instructions that she wanted a half yard cut of ever single solid that was in the shop at that time. I was stunned! Do people do that?

I attended that anniversary sale every year for about 20 years, until sadly, the proprietor retired and closed the shop. But, beginning in 2010, I found the on line quilting community and I began to buy fabrics on line, that my LQS didn't have in stock, because, hey, there isn't room to stock everything, right? This was when quilting blogs were really ramping up in popularity and there were so many of them. They showed new lines and it really drew me in.

 There were tons of new designers, the colors were brighter, the Modern Quilting movement was really taking off. This spoke to me...loudly! I bought more fabrics without a plan, feeling a compelling need to build my stash.

 I would take breaks from buying, but inevitably a line would come out that I couldn't resist. I cleaned my sewing room. I reorganized my stash...multiple times. I seldom got rid of much. I couldn't bear to part with it.

 But then we move across the country and I purged, big time. I got rid of a big box of fabrics that I just new I would never use. Some just weren't my style any longer. I got rid of books and tons of other sewing things too, and tried to keep only what I really loved. It is still a lot of fabric.

 One of the things that working on this block challenge has done, is showed me bits and pieces of fabrics that have been around for years. Really. Ten years and sometimes longer. I thought I had gotten rid of most of those. I was happy to see some of them, and I was able to look at them and figure out a way to use them, when I hadn't been able to before, and that feels great to me. I put together combos that I might not have in the past. My style and tastes are still changing. This surprised me.

The other thing I noticed, and that was what led me to this post, is that some of my older fabrics have been folded in my stash for so long, that despite not being in direct sunlight, have faded along the fold lines. This too surprised me. I wondered how people who have much larger stashes than mine deal with this type of thing. Do they even know it is occurring? We tend to use our fabrics as decor in our sewing rooms, maybe this isn't a good idea.

I have learned from this experience that I truly do have more than enough fabric to last me for quite some time. I know I cannot live forever. But will I quit buying fabrics? Probably not. But I would like to continue with projects I can sew from my stash. It would be sad if all that pretty fabric went to waste.
If you feel compelled, comment here and let me know how you feel about your stash and how you take care of it. Is it big enough? Are you still adding to it? How do you try to use from it? And do you have any great stash busting quilt patterns that you have made and loved? I would love to know.
Talk to you soon.